I always found it funny that The UK Doom was a Discharge styled Crust band, meaning a band that fuses anarcho punk with heavy metal, whereas in the US, Doom is most certainly a punk styled traditional metal band.
Anyway, they've been silent for a long while, but not forgotten. I still love the Police Bastard EP, and the Total Doom LP, but with all the line up changes, label changes ( and slagging their former labels) I lost touch with them back in the 1990's.
However, I did pay my way into buying this new LP on Bandcamp, and well, for the most part, yeah, still Doom. Like Amebix minus the keyboards meets Discharge. It's got vocal samples, and scooped out guitars ( mids are a crime in Crust, I'm used to it) and D-beats with the drums too closely mic'ed galore. If I sound dismissive, I kind of am. I like it, but others have taken the crust torch to such better places- from Tragedy who still are more than a little crust-y, to Kylesa, who only bear vestigal bits of crust. Hearing a throwback to 1990 styled Crust seems quaint at best. I personally think it's just a way of saying "Yeah we're still here, 25 years later"
So, why slag it off? Well, I don't mean to, and I have listened to it, and heard it, and enjoyed parts of it. I still have a soft spot for Thrash, D-beat, Crust, and Grind. However, it does bring up the question- when should you hang it up? When is it done? There's still an audience, and my misgivings aside, I'd probably go see Doom if they were playing nearby this weekend. So, do I want them to stop? Hell No! But, does it carry the same level of inspiration, and artistic integrity it once did? Hell No!- so, I'm left with that question hanging- when does the show stop?
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